When I started writing my latest romance novel, my first thought was to take all the things I loved best about my favorite books and put them into one story. I love stories about couples that find their way back to one another, celebrity romance, swoony moments, and watching sports. These all made their way into my new contemporary romance about a young adult soap star named Valeria Joseph who is trying to navigate the world while dealing with a breakup with her co-star.

Then, on the busy streets of New York City, she runs into her first love, Davis St. James, who she never got over. Davis is a college basketball player who is dealing with high pressure stressors of his own and they find themselves supporting one another and falling back in love. But, just like being on a daytime soap is full of drama—so is the publicity that surrounds Valeria. Throw in a pop star who’s crazy about her, an award show event that trends on social media for all the wrong reasons, and tons of swoony moments. Can Valeria find true love in the big city?

Stars in the City

Here’s an excerpt from Stars in the City to give you a taste:

“I’m scheduled to do an interview with Soap Opera Hotties,” I said.

“Me, too. Can’t wait.” Cecily clapped her hands together.

I raised my eyebrows. This was all fun and new to her. Me, I was already jaded seeing as I had once done an interview where they took a quote out of context making it look like Hayley and I were fighting on set over Lance. Meanwhile, I had gone to great lengths to stuff all my feelings down so I wouldn’t get a bad reputation and get fired. Did I yell and scream on set? No. Did I push my emotions down until I started getting random stomach issues and could no longer tolerate certain foods that I used to be able to eat with reckless abandon? Yes.

Cecily hugged herself. “I can’t believe people care about our lives enough to want to interview us. This has got to be the best job ever.”

Yeah, if strangers reading all the intimate details of your personal life and then coming over to your social media to troll you over those very details was exciting to you, then I couldn’t recommend this enough. But promotion was a part of this business, and the studio was in charge, so I went along with it. I loved acting, and growing up I thought it’d be amazing to have my name and face everywhere … until it wasn’t, and all I wanted to do was hide and turn my socials private.

The driver sighed. “Think we’re going to be here for a while. No one’s moving.”

I leaned forward and made a face. “It’s not that far. Might be faster if we walked.”

Cecily nodded, and we thanked the driver and got out of the car. It was windier than either of us expected, and I pulled my winter coat tighter around me. We hurried over to the sidewalk and ducked under the awning of an apartment building to get our bearings.

“Did not expect that wind tunnel and—whoa, there’s a guy who has zeroed in on you walking this way.” Cecily grabbed my arm. “And he is cute. Light brown hair, tall … and he can’t take his eyes off you.”

I glanced around to see who she was talking about when my eyes fixed on him. There, staring at me like there was no one else in the world was my ex-boyfriend. My mouth dropped open as he gave me a hesitant smile. What was Davis doing in New York City?

Cecily nudged me. “Hey, that cute guy is walking over—ooh, incoming.”

“Hey, Valeria. It’s been a long time,” Davis said as he and his friend came over.

I gulped. How to act? Mysterious? Or like my life was going so awesome since our breakup that I couldn’t be happier?

However, my mouth betrayed me, and I blurted out, “What are you doing here?” What were the chances we’d run into each other on the busy streets of Manhattan?

He stepped under the awning as people bustled past us on the sidewalk. A lady’s bag bumped me as she walked past, so I moved closer to the building.

Davis shrugged. “My team’s playing tomorrow, and my parents came into town to watch and decided to stay in the city so they could sightsee.”

“Oh, so you’re all just in town for the game this week?”

He raised his eyebrows. “I’m at Hepburn University now.” As he shared the name of his new school, I tried to mentally calculate the distance.

“It’s about thirty minutes away.”

What? My first love had been living less than an hour from me and I didn’t have a clue?

***Pick up the book here. It’s free in Kindle Unlimited:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Stars-City-Krysten-Lindsay-Hager-ebook/dp/B0C19THWX3
Amazon CAN: https://www.amazon.ca/Stars-City-Krysten-Lindsay-Hager-ebook/dp/B0C19THWX3
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stars-City-Krysten-Lindsay-Hager-ebook/dp/B0C19THWX3
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/Stars-City-Krysten-Lindsay-Hager-ebook/dp/B0C19THWX3

About the Author

Krysten Lindsay Hager is a bestselling author of YA and contemporary romance. She writes romance because she loves bringing people swoony moments and hope-filled happily ever afters. She writes about falling in love, fame, fitting in, frenemies, first loves, and finding your way in the world. She loves reading, watching movies, and lipstick.

Website: https://www.krystenlindsay.com/
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